I beat this game today (first ending earlier in the week > reloaded and finished chaos), and it left me with a "that was fantastic" feeling that I really didn't see coming.MC was physical focused with roughly 3dex 1agi 1luck per level, normal difficulty.

My fun log -

Hours 1-5: Lots of backtracking, jarring 2D movies with an equally jarring menu-town system, the rage of having to do fetch quests in a SMT game. Things were not looking good.

Hours 5-15: Significantly more fun, with exponentially more rage. I think I saved somewhere around 300 times during this period of the game. I could see the potential, which just made the frustration of not properly tagging quests to be able to advance combined with constant game resets all the more annoying.

Level 25-~50ish (lost track of hours): This is the game I wanted to play. Better skills were being unlocked, cooler demons were being made, weaknesses for both myself and the enemies were incredibly important, and I don't know if I just got used to the dungeon structure of the game finally or what but happy times were had in all aspects.

Level ~50-~63?: Incredibly bored. I rampaged through every normal battle with 1 critical wave, and every boss battle was won with 2-3 charge > physical skill they weren't resistant to. The enjoyment of demon fusion and a determination to finish a game I had previously liked so much was the only reason I kept playing.

Level ~63-finish(~81?): The story intensity REALLY picks up and I get to

I'm glad to hear you managed to beat and enjoy the game with a STR build.I can't count the days for my game to arrive, the wait is killing me.

Anyway, do you have some recommendations to make the beginning of the gamea little less frustrating?

I honestly think no matter what you do you're going to have a hard time in the beginning, but I recommended recruiting as many demons as possible at the start so you have lots of back-up demons and affinities to cover.

I'm glad to hear you managed to beat and enjoy the game with a STR build.I can't count the days for my game to arrive, the wait is killing me.

Anyway, do you have some recommendations to make the beginning of the gamea little less frustrating?

I honestly think no matter what you do you're going to have a hard time in the beginning, but I recommended recruiting as many demons as possible at the start so you have lots of back-up demons and affinities to cover.

Also invest in the Demon Skill Slot +1 App asap. If I recall correctly, its the gateway to the +1 Stat at Level up Apps and simply having more skill slots on your demons will allow you more skill coverage earlier on.

I'm glad to hear you managed to beat and enjoy the game with a STR build.I can't count the days for my game to arrive, the wait is killing me.

Anyway, do you have some recommendations to make the beginning of the gamea little less frustrating?

I honestly think no matter what you do you're going to have a hard time in the beginning, but I recommended recruiting as many demons as possible at the start so you have lots of back-up demons and affinities to cover.

Also invest in the Demon Skill Slot +1 App asap. If I recall correctly, its the gateway to the +1 Stat at Level up Apps and simply having more skill slots on your demons will allow you more skill coverage earlier on.

What I wish the game would have told me is that when recruiting demons, feel free to refuse to give macca, and choose the end talks option as soon as you can every time. Otherwise the demons just keep asking for items, call you a push-over, and don't join anyway. I was baffled at how the system managed to seem even more convoluted than nocturne before I learned this.

I would also be less stubborn about running to google to type in phrases such as "smt iv where shinjuku." I thought the game was going to have all the conveniences of a modern RPG, so I was trying to just play with no outside resources. I did not get any extra enjoyment out of running through every zone in the game multiple times, being unable to advance because I didn't talk to an old man at a bar, than I would have gotten if I just used the internet to tell me what to do.

Getting that Neutral Route is going to be hard. It falls between -8 and +8 alignment points, and the last questions add or reduce 10, which means staying Neutral before that scene is not a good idea...

What I wish the game would have told me is that when recruiting demons, feel free to refuse to give macca, and choose the end talks option as soon as you can every time. Otherwise the demons just keep asking for items, call you a push-over, and don't join anyway. I was baffled at how the system managed to seem even more convoluted than nocturne before I learned this.

I would also be less stubborn about running to google to type in phrases such as "smt iv where shinjuku." I thought the game was going to have all the conveniences of a modern RPG, so I was trying to just play with no outside resources. I did not get any extra enjoyment out of running through every zone in the game multiple times, being unable to advance because I didn't talk to an old man at a bar, than I would have gotten if I just used the internet to tell me what to do.

The game gives you the option to "cheat" during conversation, so I think it would assume you would take advantage, or at least try to see what happens. Are you unwilling to experiment unless the game tells you to do so?

There's a man on the map that tells you how to get to Shinjuku. What's difficult about making sure you talk to everyone and explore everything? That used to be standard practice in RPGs.

In other news, new DLC went up today, and...it's connected to the main story.

I bought it and completed it in 5 minutes. It's barely connected to the story and is in fact in my opinion not worth buying unless you really want those 2 demons. Quite the waste of money, I expected something more substantial.

EDIT: On an unrelated note, did you guys know if your full party gets Smirk you get fully healed HP and MP for the whole team? I'm on my second playthrough and it's the first time it happened. :P

The game gives you the option to "cheat" during conversation, so I think it would assume you would take advantage, or at least try to see what happens. Are you unwilling to experiment unless the game tells you to do so?

There's a man on the map that tells you how to get to Shinjuku. What's difficult about making sure you talk to everyone and explore everything? That used to be standard practice in RPGs.

These questions seem a bit hostile as a response to beginner tips that would have let me enjoy the game more? Keep in mind I just said I found the game fantastic a few posts back. In the event I'm just reading the tone wrong, I'll answer -

I tried to "cheat" constantly! How else was I supposed to try to form a party of demons when every dude I tried to recruit asked me for everything I owned!? "End talks" read to me like the option I click when I don't want to recruit the demon anymore. When that proves true the first time I click it and the demon rejects me, I can't be clicking that button willy-nilly. I'm 5k macca, 2 revival beads, and a sacrificed party member deep into the negotiations!

Shinjuku was the first town name I remembered, which I could spell. Don't think this counts as much of a spoiler, but since people can be a little weird:

The kill Peallaidh mainline quest is a precise example. There is a demon horde of horses telling me to kill Peallaidh. There is a dude by the river telling me to kill Peallaidh. Peallaidh will never, ever spawn until I talk to a random old guy in the bar who has nothing to do with this quest before it starts or after it ends. It does not enhance my fun to be running around where the demon horses tell me he will spawn for an hour in a so-close but never-possible attempt to kill this boss who simply won't spawn until I talk to the random old guy.It is not overly difficult, but I simply would have had more fun sniffing around the next area, rather than roaming around in a hopeless search.